The SEC Myth

[nando714]

Lets be fair... the Myth was just recently revealed.... BCS was a helluva drug

[Angel Oracle]

They were still the best football conference in 2014.   But the gap is closing.  

Edited July 17, 2015 by Angel Oracle

[HeavenlyHalos]

I don't think they were the best conference last season. The East is terrible and the West was incredibly overrated (see the bowl games). I think the Pac-12 and Big 12 were both better conferences. The SEC only plays 8 conference games despite having 14 teams which inflates everyones W/L records in that conference. Given its current structure, outside of their yearly rivalry game cross-division, they will face off once every 6 years with every other non-divisional opponent. That means that a Florida season ticket holder will get to see Alabama at home every 12 seasons. Meanwhile, Nick Saban struggles with the hurry up spread offense so he tried to change the rules last year and it nearly worked, hiding under the ruse of "player safety." That mofo doesn't seem to mind his 4/5 star recruited 330 pound lineman facing off against FCS schools (this year includes Middle Tenn, ULM, and Charleston Southern). It's insane and I hate that conference with every fiber of my being.

[HeavenlyHalos]

BCS was a helluva drug

 

I agree that the BCS was essentially set-up for the SEC schools, however every poll overrates teams. South Carolina always seems to be a preseason top 10 while never living up to the hype but remaining ranked because of it. Keep in mind, however, that the first playoff poll had Ole Miss and Miss St. 1 and 2 last year with Alabama 4th. Luckily, 2 of those 3 lost to kick them out but the playoffs are still overseen by a former SEC guy and will likely continue the SEC bias. I still hate that the 2012 BCS Championship game featured two SEC teams, in the same division no less, and a repeat of the most boring game I have ever seen (the stunningly inept showing of offense ending in a 9-6 win for LSU).

[Lou]

The gap gas definitely closed, but if anyone thinks the SEC isn't the best conference they don't know college football

Edited August 10, 2015 by Lou

[Tank]

meanwhile, Ohio State University is looking to successfully defend their undisputed national championship.

[HeavenlyHalos]

The gap gas definitely closed, but if anyone thinks the SEC isn't the best conference they don't know college football

 

Disagreed. The East is a terrible division. The West went 2-5 in their bowl games. They are no longer on top, but I guess that unfortunately means I don't know anything about college football.

[HeavenlyHalos]

meanwhile, Ohio State University is looking to successfully defend their undisputed national championship.

 

Hard to see them not at least making the playoffs. Michigan State could challenge them in the Big Ten with Cook back at QB, but they have to play at the Shoe this season so I don't see them winning that one.

[nando714]

meanwhile, Ohio State University is looking to successfully defend their undisputed national championship.

Favored by double digits in every game so far. They should cruise to the playoffs

[HeavenlyHalos]

Came across the top 25 team's with the most arrests over the last 5 seasons. 11 SEC Teams listed. Wazzu first overall with 31!

 

https://twitter.com/RosenbergMerc/status/633702495307628544/photo/1

[nando714]

Came across the top 25 team's with the most arrests over the last 5 seasons. 11 SEC Teams listed. Wazzu first overall with 31!

https://twitter.com/RosenbergMerc/status/633702495307628544/photo/1

Not much to do in Pullman

[HeavenlyHalos]

No there's not. Beautiful area though and a decent fan base too; certainly better than their in-state rivals.

[Lou]

Disagreed. The East is a terrible division. The West went 2-5 in their bowl games. They are no longer on top, but I guess that unfortunately means I don't know anything about college football.

Delve deeper.

Take the final rankings, then disregard the SEC teams (bc they didn't play each other)

Four of their bowl losses were to the teams ranked #s 1,3,6 and 10

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Don't bring facts into the SEC bashing, Lou.

 

As far as the SEC East being a "terrible" division, it has definitely been down for the past 2-3 years. A lot of that can be laid at the feet of Will Muschamp, who accomplished something at Florida that is hard to do: Making the Gators totally irrelevant. Things had fallen so far that before Jim McElwain was hired, Florida had the smallest and lowest-rated recruiting class in the entire SEC due to come in, and according to CBS Sports several of the few kids who had verbally committed were looking for other places to go before National Signing Day - which would have made it even worse. That McElwain and Co. managed to grab a top 15 class out of one that was ranked below #100 about a month earlier is nothing short of miraculous. Tennessee has been in rebuilding mode for the past couple of years under Butch Davis, and they are probably about a year away. Georgia and South Carolina were both breaking in new quarterbacks, so the offense wasn't there. Georgia also lost Todd Gurley for a big part of the season with a torn ACL.

[nando714]

Don't bring facts into the SEC bashing, Lou.

As far as the SEC East being a "terrible" division, it has definitely been down for the past 2-3 years. A lot of that can be laid at the feet of Will Muschamp, who accomplished something at Florida that is hard to do: Making the Gators totally irrelevant. Things had fallen so far that before Jim McElwain was hired, Florida had the smallest and lowest-rated recruiting class in the entire SEC due to come in, and according to CBS Sports several of the few kids who had verbally committed were looking for other places to go before National Signing Day - which would have made it even worse. That McElwain and Co. managed to grab a top 15 class out of one that was ranked below #100 about a month earlier is nothing short of miraculous. Tennessee has been in rebuilding mode for the past couple of years under Butch Davis, and they are probably about a year away. Georgia and South Carolina were both breaking in new quarterbacks, so the offense wasn't there. Georgia also lost Todd Gurley for a big part of the season with a torn ACL.

Don't forget tennessee they've been down for almost a decade and were in a dog fight with bowling Green state this weekend late into the 3rd qtr.

Mizzou comes into the east from the big 12 and won the divison what like 2 or 3 times?

Edited September 8, 2015 by nando714

[Lou]

Since 2004, Tennessee has been to 7 bowl games

The SEC schedule is no joke.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Tennessee's athletic department has been a mess for about that long. They are deeply in debt, mostly from overspending on athletic facilities and paying fired coaches.

[Tank]

that brings up another good reason to laugh at lane kiffin.

[Lou]

"Ohio State has one game remaining with a ranked opponent," Bielema said. "We have eight remaining against teams that are ranked."

[Tank]

i don't think ohio state will have a walk through for their schedule. big 10 teams play tough football. their schedule will definitely look better and give them a little more street cred if they're not playing idaho and hawaii every year.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

i don't think ohio state will have a walk through for their schedule. big 10 teams play tough football. their schedule will definitely look better and give them a little more street cred if they're not playing idaho and hawaii every year.

 

You can't be serious. Ohio State has one team remaining on  their schedule who should even be able to stay on the field with them (Michigan State). That is the only ranked opponent on their remaining schedule.

 

The Big Ten is garbage.

Edited September 10, 2015 by Vegas Halo Fan

[Tank]

let's see how it plays out. there are always surprises from teams you didn't expect.

 

i certainly hope they run the table, but you never know.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

let's see how it plays out. there are always surprises from teams you didn't expect.

 

Here is their remaining schedule:

 

Hawaii - Has won eight games in the past three years.

 

Northern Illinois - Beat UNLV by eight points last week.

 

Western Michigan - A mid-pack MAC team.

 

Indiana - 4-8 last season.

 

Maryland - Mediocre team, 7-6 a year ago. 

 

Penn State - Lost to Temple by 17 points last week.

 

Rutgers - Irrelevant since Greg Schiano left. OSU beat them 56-17 a year ago.

 

Minnesota - Another mid pack team. Played reasonably well against TCU.

 

Illinois - Do they still have a team? Fired their head coach before the opening game. Winners of 12 games in the last three years.

 

Michigan State - The one remaining challenge - but the game is in Columbus.

 

Michigan - Lost to Utah in the opener. Even with Harbaugh, this is a building project that will take a while.

 

I don't see much "tough football" in there, Tank. Sorry.

[nando714]

Yeah Ohio state should roll

[Lou]

The Golden Gophers will shock the world!